Group Forum: DAILY CHECK IN HERE

First let me introdouce my self my name is Rachel, Initally I started low carbing to get my blood sugars undercontrol and avoid insulin. So far this has worked. My dr said that this may be the answer to me avoiding diabetes all together. This is my first time posting here. I pray that everyone is doing okay and staying within there plan.

Sunkeeper and Lyn - I did research on water and how much is "too much" a few months ago. Everything that I've read says that "yes, you can drink too much water but that too much is really hard to get to".You can read up on it here. Also, I only drink filtered water and despite being over 200 ounces on some days, I'm not anywhere close to where I'd need to be to be in danger of water intoxication.

On cheating, I have to be honest here, I'm a little bit disgusted about the way the entire situation went down and I have to tell you, Julie, in your rush to protect someone who may or may not have felt alienated, you succeeded in making me feel attacked for giving the very same advice that several other people gave.That may not have been your intention but well ... there you have it. I felt like I was being singled out and that in turn, has made me feel like it's okay to discuss "cheating", like it's alright, with no regard for how difficult those discussions might be to read for people who are already struggling with making a lifestyle change but it's not okay for me to voice my opinions on it.I hate that this has disrupted the group. I hate that I feel like this is no longer a support group. In the beginning, this group was a valuable tool in my journey to finding a better, healthier lifestyle and I have made friends here that I treasure and cherish.As Dorothy says, "we are all in this together" and I feel like this group is here to strengthen, support and educate. I did not feel supported at all yesterday. I'll get over it, I'm a big girl. But yeah, that's where I'm at.To the people that have contacted me privately, thank you, I appreciate it more than I could ever express.

I'm on well water so no additives (that I'm aware of anyway) plus it's filtered. Appears that part is good.

I'm not up to 200 oz yet, yesterday was 176, guess I've nothing to worry about though it's mind easing to know.

I can feel my hands swollen in the morning, by mid day my rings are upside down though first thing I can hardly move them which is what brought on the question. I'm also weighing first thing in the morning so this I'm sure is including water weight though that you'd think would be pretty much the same each day.

Love that I can come on and ask a question and get good answers. I know there is an entire group to back me up and hopefully be there for support when I need it. Hope I always feel this way because we do have a special group of people and I certainly don't want that to change.

Hi Rachel. I am so glad to hear that low carb eating has been helpful in controlling your blood sugar levels. A dear friend of mine has found that it works very well for her. She comes from a family in which virtually everyone has diabetes and she can think of no other cause of death for any family member that she knows of. She plainly has a very strong genetic predisposition to diabetes but, even so, her blood sugar levels respond very well when she keeps the carbs way down. From what I have read about diabetes medications and from what I saw of my late father's experience with them, there is one thing that I am certain about. It is better to prevent diabetes than to treat it!

Good luck on your journey and welcome to the group.

If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." - Roald Dahl

Good Morning and welcome Rachel...welcome to the WHATEVER YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT FORUM!

I made a huge batch of TURKEY BACON JERKY and a regular batch of beef jerky over the weekend...I like the turkey better than the regular bacon because it isn't so greasy or fatty looking. Wighed myself this morning and was pretty dang pleased with myself!

Have agreat day my friends!

[b] [i]270-down to 180 = 90 (11 1/2 Months)

We have chosen a path in the road...sometimes we will hit a bump, trip on a rock, miss a corner, and slam right into a mountain....but if we just back up a little, we can get right back on the path!

Not much to say here - except I'm still suffering from Atkins Bar Distress. Lol. I did weigh -although I told myself I wouldn't for a few days. So, I've gained a total of 2 pounds just from a week of eating 2 Atkins bars a day. I only had 1 on Saturday, and 0 yesterday. I'm hoping my body will finally catch up and I'll be on the downslope of losing again.

Its amazing how people are so different in what their bodies can tolerate. I remember before on OWL (Atkins). Some foods made me gain and some made me lose. Anyway, I think I'm on the right tract now - FOR Me. Thanks for all your input ladies.

Personally, I think now is the time to agree to disagree and let's move on.

MusicGirl, even though they are called Atkins bars, they can still be pretty dangerous. They trick your body into thinking it is eating sugar in turn causing it to crave sugar. I ended up having to go cold turkey for a while in order to stop the cravings and now I can have a bar every other week or so. Any more than that and the craving returns along will a stall in my weight loss.

Mryna & Toni--how do you make the turkey bacon jerky, sounds good!!! I don't have a dehydrator, so I didn't know if I could make it in the oven?

Sorry I have been busy and not as active for the past week and really the weekends I tend to be MIA. However, catching up this morning and I want to make a couple of statements that correlate with what some others have said. Sure some people think cheat days is okay, but if we are discussing it then for me I do not think it is okay to have a planned cheat day. Are there days that I know my carb intake might go over...sure but I do not plan it to happen. Like Thanksgiving I still cooked a lot of low carb options but knew I might likely go over. Are there some days I have slipped..yes but it was not planned. I know this way works for me and have been successful in the past, but honestly those planned cheat days have been my demise every time. I no longer have planned cheat days and I do not imagine that I ever will. I am trying to make low carb (Atkins for me) a way of life and that does not support a 'cheat day'. Furthermore, a cheat day does not support me. I used to reward myself with food when I did well and what I realize now is that it is (and was) counter-productive. I deserve a better reward than food. That is the harmful cycle that many of us were brought up with (and have done to our kids) to reward them with food or give them a special 'treat' to make them feel better. For me (and in my mind) that will only set me up for failure. There may be many here (and elsewhere) that are stronger than me even now when I have been at this over and over and some newbies may be stronger than I ever was. However, for me it is not a good idea. Add in that I have discovered (in this journey) that I am also gluten intolerant. Not to mention that diabetes runs rampant in my family and a cheat day would only have adverse effects upon my body.

I joined this group because it is a low carb daily check in. I realize that some people are not low carbing it to the extent of induction and that is fine. I also know that we have helped a lot of people that have joined and did not know what they were doing wrong. I joined this group for accountability (a daily check in), for like minded individuals on the same journey as I am, to get feedback and learn from others. We are all different and what used to work may not work anymore and what someone else is doing or eating I may have not thought of...it is helping me tremendously. I did not join this group for entertainment (I can find that at home). I did not join this group to isolate anyone or to see someone else isolated. Nor did I join this group to be in fear that my honest answer is going to get me scorned or alienated.

We are all adults. We are all on the same journey to lose weight. Some of us will fail the first time and some of us have failed many times. If I am asked a question I will give my honest answer and the intent is not to be hurtful, and I believe that I can speak for several of the people that has been in this group for quite some time that it is not their character either. For myself I need someone that is going to be honest with me so I can be successful and not tip toe around me. My responses will be just like I would want from others respectful but honest and that is always what has been given to this group.

Not to single anyone out but there was someone that joined this group newly and as she said it hurt me when you all were honest (but she KNEW we weren't being hurtful). I think it was the truth that hurt and that was not from anyone being disrespecful or mean-spirited.

So with all of that being said I think the tit for tat needs to stop. We are all adults and I do not believe that any of us needs someone else trying to protect us.

Also with what LynCaro said it is an addiction. I am a carb addict and it is very hard for me to have reminders of what I am trying not to eat and trying to find replacements for. She is 100% correct in that respect. So if you are in here for a daily check in and are not on a low carb way of eating then please be mindful of that because it is extremely hard at times. That is when this group is the most valuable for me...when I am struggling or when I cannot get the scale to move.

Next is water...Toni posted a very good link and I think I heard of one case where someone died of too much water. I believe it was from a radio show that was to see who could drink the most water in an allotted time to win tickets or something. I think a woman died from it. I have always found a good rule of thumb to be to drink half your body weight in ounces of water. I weigh 201# so I need to drink at least 100 oz of water a day. When I was at 220 I needed to drink 110 oz. of water a day. Sometimes it is harder than other times. I retain a lot of fluid if my sodium is close to the RDI or over and those times I will probably drink more water than the 100 oz. However, I can tell the difference on the scale the next day if I don't up my water. Cascade Ice is some good flavored water and I have seen Mio on here and I need to try some of that.

So hope everyone had a good weekend. We joined a cigar lounge...my husband loves cigars and there is only one lounge here. However, we get a free buffet on Tuesday nights (will be pointless if they do not have low carb but will find out on Tuesday). This is where we ordered the wings and the girl thought they weren't battered but they were. I only ate 5 (half of what I typically would have eaten) but could tell that my tummy was not happy with the batter in it...those of you that are gluten intolerant know that feeling. Since DH and I were sharing the wings I did not send them back. Live and Learn...next time I will get a burger

Okay we have not made it to the swing class yet on Thursday as DH pulled a muscle in his neck and he cannot turn it....he is going to massage therapist today so maybe we will make it Thursday. I revealed to him my plan for Lent. I am also looking for a decent used treadmill as it is still not that great for walking and running and we are doing the Bloomsday race this year (12k - we did it in 2011) and there are some 5k's that I would like to do.

Hi everyone, I'm new to this group. I need a more active group to keep me motivated. I'm 69 and I have kidney disease. I learned that obesity can damage your kidneys. So, I am doing Atkins in an attempt to stop further damage.I love the posts. You are a real community!My start weight was 221.4 lbs on 01/22/2013.Today's weight is 212.8 lbs (02/11/2013).

I have been heavy most of my life. My life is finally about to change.

MusicGirl - that is one of the things I love about this thread and everyone being so open and sharing. It is how different everyone's body is and how it reacts!! I never would have thought about the Atkins bars until others shared how it had stalled them. I do think they are good to have in case of an emergency (one in your car or purse) man oh man those hazelnut one's are so good. Definitely though something that I will have when I get to maintenance Hang in there and you will do just fine. Those 2 pounds will fall back off before you know it!

Rachel- welcome and that is awesome about your blood sugars! I have many family membeers (Aunts, Uncles, Grandmother) that were or are diabetics and that is yet another reason for me to do low carb. I am in my early 40's and don't want to put my body in that place. It scares me. DH is diabetic and it scares me for him...he is just now trying to 'somewhat' get on board with low carb eating. He doesn't realize what an addiction they are and how harmful it can be.

Before I had a dehydrator, I did use the oven. For beef jerky it worked out to 6 hours on 200 degrees.I'm not sure how long you'd need to do it for bacon jerky but you'd want at least, 165 degrees for temperature.

Oh but think about getting a dehydrator! I've made zucchini dorito chips and cheese puffs in mine and as much as I didn't think I'd get much use out of it, I really have. Mine is going at least once a week.

4MeandFamily - welcome to the group! Yes I was re-reading the Dr. Atkins' new Diet Revolution and was reading something on kidney's. It is so eye-opening what these carbs and sugars are doing to our bodies and so scary too. I am glad you found this group and look forward to hearing more from you. Congratulations on the weight that you have already lost! This is our year!!!!!!

Toni thanks for the information. I think I will try some bacon jerky in the oven and take a look at a dehydrator...you really make those zucchini dorito chips sound good. Also, since DH is TRYING to do more low carb we are going through beef jerky. There is a meat market here that sells some out of this world jerky at $22.99#!!!!!! So if I can successfully make some good jerky then the dehydrator would definitely pay for itself.

That does mean that those of you that are making jerky and using your dehydrator will have to add some new recipes!

4MeandFamily - I have also found that burgers work good when eating out. Toss the bun (of course) but they are also easy to get and have saved me many times. Good luck while being away from home; I am sure you will do just fine